On a Budget: 7 Tips for Free Diet Support and Advice

This is the final post of the "Dieting on a budget" series.

I've covered how to shop and cook, exercise and eat out healthily on a budget. But where do you go for information and inspiration about dieting? Perhaps you currently buy several diet and fitness related magazines every month, and attend weekly Weight Watchers meetings. Here's seven ways to get advice and support for free:

1. Start your own club

Rather than paying for membership of a diet club (Weight Watchers, Slimming World etc), start your own! Find a few like-minded friends or colleagues: if you send an email round, you might be surprised to find some unexpected people showing an interest in healthy eating. Get together during your lunch hour, or one evening in the week, have a weigh-in and share your tips.

2. Get together with a "diet buddy"

Perhaps you think your diet would be certain to succeed if you had a life coach ... but there's no way you can afford one. How about joining together with a designated "diet buddy" instead? Pick someone who'll help keep you accountable, who you can phone when that candy bar is calling to you. Ideally, you want a friend who is supportive but firm. And, of course, you should be prepared to return the favour.

3. Swap sports skills: coach one another

Another area where costs can quickly mount up is when you pay a personal trainer or a sports coach to teach you a new skill. If you have an acquaintance who's a great baseball player, runner, swimmer, and so on, why not ask them to coach you? In return, either teach them something sporty too (tennis, golf, cycling...) or, if your sports skills are lacking, offer to teach them something else, such as how to cook.

4. Borrow diet and health books from the library

New books promising to reveal the one true secret of weight loss success appear every day in the bookstore. If your shelves are groaning under the weight of barely-read diet plans and motivational writings, try going to the library instead. If you do happen to find a diet book you want to refer back to in the future, you can always buy your own copy afterwards.

5. Read blogs rather than magazines

If books seem in good supply, just think about magazines. There are dozens of monthly publications aimed at dieters, often packed with success stories, product reviews, tips and tricks, and simple diet plans. Rather than forking out cash for this, why not try reading blogs instead? There's a list of great ones on the blogs and links page. Editor's Note: Have a trawl through the Diet Blog archives - or start with this guide to eating right.

6. Join a web forum for advice and support

The interactive nature of the web makes it ideal for getting your questions answered ("How many calories are there in three peanut butter cups?" "What's the best exercise to tone up my arms?") There are loads of diet-related web forums, chat rooms and email groups out there, - check out our list of weight loss support sites.

7. Use free calorie tables online

You can buy books listing calorie information in the store, but why not use online tables instead? It's easier to search for an item on the computer, and some databases of calories hold details for a huge number of different products. A couple of good places to start are Calorie King and Calorie Count.

That's the end of the "Dieting on a budget" series. Hopefully you now know how to make changes to stay on track with your diet when money is tight. As always, share your great tips with us in the comments...

(Photo above by wicked)